The present exemplary embodiments pertain to an interactive Braille display apparatus in which Braille characters may be displayed to a visually-impaired person who may interactively provide an input to the Braille display.
Braille is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually-impaired. Braille is traditionally written with embossed paper. However, Braille-users can read computer screens and other electronic supports thanks to refreshable braille displays. Braille characters are small rectangular blocks called cells that contain tiny palpable bumps called raised dots. The number and arrangement of these dots distinguish one character from another. In Braille, an aggregate of physically raised dots arranged in a matrix of 2 columns by 3 rows (6 dots) or 2 columns by 4 rows (8 dots) represents hiragana characters, and a person touches the aggregate with his/her finger to recognize the characters.
Conventional devices exist for displaying text on a computer monitor screen in Braille notation which may be read by a visually-impaired person. These devices may typically display only two lines of 80 character text. Further, these devices do not allow the reader of the display to provide some input related to the text being read. For example, if the reader was reading text from an online source in which there is a link to go to another page or another website, the reader is unable to “click” that link to go to the other page or website.